Tuesday, March 6, 2012

SAINT MAURUS

St. Maurus

Feast day: January 27
Died: 555

Abbot founder of Bodon Abbey, near Sisteron, France. He is sometimes called Marius or May. Maurus was cured of a serious illness at the tomb of St. Denis in Paris. He was a revered prophet.
Marius of Bodon, Abbot
(also known as Maurus, May, Mary, Maire, Mere)
Born at Orléans, France; died c. 555. There is no reliable information about this abbot-founder of Bodon in the diocese of Sisteron, France, where he is called Saint May. Uncertain sources relate that he was endowed by God with the gift of prophecy, who was a monk at Orléans before becoming the first abbot of Bodon (La-Val-Benois) some time before 509.

His vita was written by Dynamius, who corresponded with Pope Saint Gregory the Great (died 604) and is mentioned by Saint Gregory of Tours (letter 6, chapter 11). It is said that Saint Marius made pilgrimages to the tombs of Saint Martin at Tours and Saint Denis near Paris. He fell ill at Paris and dreamed that Saint Denis healed him. Upon awakening, he was restored to perfect health.

Another story relates that during one of Marius's Lenten retreats (forty days spent as a recluse in the forest), he was given a vision of the desolation to be left behind the barbarian invasions that were later to strike Italy. He also saw and foretold the destruction of his own monastery. When his prophecy was realized, his relics were translated from the demolished abbey to Forcalquier, where the collegiate church now bears his name